Cat Gets the Bird [Private w/Ax] [Mature]

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Taptaptaptaptap!

"UGH!" cried the cat, throwing her drumstick across the room. It cut through the air with a whizzing sound and clattered against the wall, falling onto her bed with a fresh new dent.

Today sucked. Drumming wasn't making her feel any better, it was a weekend; she hadn't any classes to distract her from her suffering, and she was still in a funk in regards to her current situation. She had been bouncing back and forth between considering Beacon a prison sentence and the best damn thing that ever happened to her. Besides that...

Fuchsia leaned over the top of her drum kit, sighing. Her predatory golden eyes fell, ashamed, to the framed picture that hung on her wall, just above her bed. It was a small photograph, only six inches across and eight tall, but it was the most significant picture ever taken, in her opinion. It depicted a mangy girl with a big pair of ears, a long tail, a black leather jacket, and spikes to boot. She was making a face, her tongue out, piercing in the center of it, one hand outstretched with her pinky and index finger lifted to the sky, and the other placed on the head of another girl standing beside her. This girl was the epitome of a lady. She, too, had two tall ears and a long, black tail, and she wore a great big grin from ear to ear while her hair was getting messed up by the other cat Faunus. She wore a white summer dress with a floral pattern, had two big golden loops hanging from her ears near the sides of her head, and she, too, held one hand out in the same gesture as her sister. Her other arm was wrapped firmly about Fuchsia's waist.

It always stirred up deep-seated emotions to look at this photograph. Fuchsia knew that. It was so many things, for such a simple little thing. It was the only surviving picture of Mauve Orchid Ükhel, twin sister to Fuchsia, the spitting image of the girl reflected back yet somehow holding a much more dainty air about herself. It was Fuchsia's most priceless possession. It was the one thing that nobody else had the right to touch. But most of all, it was bumming her the fuck out.

"Look, I get it, Mo, I really fucking do," she said to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose and exhaling sharply before she placed her hand back on the top of her tom-toms and took a good look around. Her room, her greenhouse, her sanctuary. All about her were plants. Flowers. Herbs. They hung from the ceiling, there were a few planter boxes in the center of her room, and the large bay window behind her let in the light and scattered the green everywhere. There were sun lamps, tiled floor where the plants sat, carpet around her bed, and a bathroom, which had a shower, complete with a frog shower curtain, frog toothbrush holder, frog ornament on the towel rack, frog-themed shelving, a frog bath mat, frog-shaped toilet seat cover, every damned frog imaginable. She had two huge speakers in different corners of the room so she could blast music on the weekends. She'd been given everything she'd demanded by Dargo, and had secured the rest with her first stipend. The room was crowded! There wasn't even much room in here for her bed and her drum kit left, the only reason she'd even been able to fit everything is because Dargo had somehow managed to get her a team dorm meant for four people. How, she couldn't say. This place was something very special, and she knew that. Dargo had done so well by her, it was unprecedented, but he'd kept his promises. She'd been moved here, plants and all and given a room big enough for this whole setup, but when she'd came... She'd left Mauve behind.

"Be grateful when someone sticks their neck out for you," Fuchsia said, but in a tone unfamiliar to her usual voice. She could hear her in it. Every day, she looked in the mirror in her bathroom, the one with the little cartoon frog stickers in the corner, and she could see her face. When she so much as sneezed she was reminded. They had the exact same, stupid, overly-cute sneeze. It was entirely involuntary! And yet, there was no escaping it. Her therapist constantly tried to figure out why Fuchsia was seemingly incapable of removing Mauve from her mind for even ten minutes on a normal basis, but how could she? She was Mauve. As long as she was alive, she continued to be the one half of a whole left that had nothing else but a shadow of itself, a poltergeist, constantly following and poking and prodding and reminding her!

"Easy for you to say! You're super fucking dead! she shouted at the picture, "And what? Are you grateful I stuck my fucking neck out for you? Are you apologizing from the other side, that big god damn yarnball in the sky where you can prance and pounce and RUN AROUND ALL DAY?! FUCK!" Outside, in the hallway, a girl with yellow feathers on her head raised an eyebrow and looked down the hallway toward her room. She was being too loud, and she knew it.

"Grrrr... Fuck this. I need a distraction. I'm tired of looking at you. I'll see you later, anyway, you're not going anywhere," she said to herself, feeling somewhat strange knowing that addressing herself as though she were Mauve felt almost entirely natural.

She picked up her Scroll from her bed, and flopped backward onto it, pulling up her contacts. There was only one person on the list so far. The one person she'd actually met officially in this place, her first... friend, she guessed she could call her, here at Beacon.

Ax L. Rose.

Fuchsia immediately set about crafting a series of messages with a desire in mind, a desire to move their plans up ahead of schedule, anything to get out of the house. She was dying in here with nothing better to do than have shouting matches with ghosts.

TO: Badass Birdy [Sat 16:37]

hey babe
u busy?
cant take it anymore need to go out
im callin it in
date nite is 2nite!!!1 \m/
unless u cant
plz? =^. , .^= m


Then, as soon as her barrage of texts were finished, she set her Scroll on her chest, and pressed her gloved hand to her face, hoping she hadn't sounded like a total desperate idiot.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax blinked her eyes heavily. She was unable to ignore the fog that was starting to build up in her brain as she stared at her notes on the screen. She'd been staring at this laptop for hours now, going over online reading she'd been given after missing a day's worth of classes. This was the cost of her hubris. She let out a low growl, her metal hand moving to press her teal-tipped thumb and middle finger to her temples. She stared down at the laptop keyboard. She was going to lose her mind if she stared at black text over a white background any longer. She'd reread the last paragraph at least three times now - this clearly wasn't working.

Her deep blue eyes flickered over to her scroll as it shook on her desk, her expression murderous. If this was another stupid notification from some shitty app she was too lazy to uninstall she was going to throw it across the damn room! She snatched the device off the smooth, polished surface at the corner of her otherwise rather messy desk and flicked her thumb over the front of the screen to unlock it. Her expression eased up when she saw that this time her phone was going off because of a real human being.

Grateful for a distraction from dry text, she all too eagerly pulled up the full message on her scroll. A small smile rose on her lips, and she started to type out a quick reply with her thumbs... and then about halfway into it, she paused, her smile shrinking. It'd been a hot minute since she'd met Fuchsia out on the roof of the dorms. Her whole situation had been... a little bit different when they'd talked before. This was all before the thing with Nym. When she reflected on what she'd mostly been up to the last few days, she felt a weird sensation in the pit of her stomach and soon recognized it as guilt. She deleted her text, sat down her scroll, and leaned back in her chair, turning her head to stare up at the ceiling.

She and Nym. They were partners. Now they were also lovers. It wasn't an exclusive thing for the time being, but she nevertheless had to ask herself if anything had really changed since the old days. Her eyes went a bit out of focus and her mind turned these thoughts over again and again. She really needed to talk herself through this.

Ax had been interested in a few girls as of late. It obviously wasn't a crime to go looking at anyone... but she wasn't just looking if she was agreeing to go on dates. What would Nym think? What about Calli? Her fear of commitment had thankfully prevented her from making any foolish promises that would spell true disaster, but the fact of the matter was that if Ax went around on dates with people, someone's heart was probably gonna get hurt. Not only that but... wouldn't people talk? A weird feeling in her stomach brought a frown to her lips. She could be ethical and honest and sincere with people about her intentions, but people were definitely gonna think she was some kind of slut at this rate.

Slut. What a judgmental word. Why was her mind attaching this judgment to herself? She closed her eyes for a moment and mulled it over. It didn't actually matter what people called her or what they thought. Hell, people were already eager to judge her just for how she dressed and how she presented herself. What difference did it make? She'd let fear keep her mostly celibate and detached from people she was otherwise interested in for basically years. Was she just being too hard on herself?

"Probably," she admitted softly to herself.

Ax's love and sex life were going to be speculated upon no matter what. She kept no secrets from Nym and she wouldn't start now. As long as she was up front, sincere, and she maintained certain boundaries... what really was the harm? She'd known other people that had serious partners even, who still saw other people casually. It had all been good and harmless when other people did it. They made it work. Why couldn't Ax do the same?

The weird judgy feeling in her stomach had been subdued for the time being. Now that she felt better, she turned her attention back to the scroll. Soon enough she was typing out a reply.

hi
sorry i took a sec to reply, i been catching up on some reading
i missed my afternoon classes the other day
i could def use a break. still wanna go out?

She'd been out and about earlier in the day already, so she already had her face on. She hopped up from her desk, slipped out of her sweatpants and changed into her usual outfit, throwing her cropped leather jacket on over a black tanktop that had the words "DUMP HIM" written in red letters over the chest. She'd bring Electra Heart and her gauntlet too. She hadn't forgotten the mess that happened at the Illuminous yet. Ax had enemies in town and she didn't want to be caught off guard. She idly prepared herself to head out while she waited for some word from Fu on what the plan was.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

The time continued to tick by. She wasn't quite sure why she'd expected an instantaneous response. Maybe because she was the coolest cat on campus? Totally. So cool that her blood ran hot more often than not. And here she was, now, feeling a pang of regret at shooting a text at a person she barely knew just for the sake of some small chance at relief from this claustrophobic feeling of being alone with her own thoughts. It was kind of twisted, in a way, wasn't it?

She hoped she hadn't bothered Ax much.

She'd been about to do a double fuck-it and start up on something else, leaping to her feet from the bed just in time to catch the sound of her Scroll vibrating a few times with the flick of an ear. Well shit, maybe today wasn't completely a bust?

She once again dove back onto the bed, grasping her Scroll and rolling over in a feline fashion, it may as well have been a fake mouse. Her paws on it, she navigated the screen back to her messages.

It looked to be a yes. Finally, something to smile about. She grinned a pointy grin and then, yet again, slipped back onto her feet and took to her bathroom for a moment to make sure she was presentable. She checked her teeth, her hair, and the outfit she had on. She actually wasn't looking half bad, barring the blush that had come up on her cheeks from the weird emotional rollercoaster she'd taken herself on just a few minutes prior. It'd go away soon enough.

It was just about sunset, soon it'd be dark, and the forecast was a clear, starry night with moderate temperatures, it wouldn't be dropping much this time of year. Her tanktop would be fine. It was plain, purple, and loose, extending a few inches past her waist in an almost dress-like fashion. Beneath that, she was wearing a pair of camo cargo pants, and right now her feet were bare but soon they'd be clad in large spiked boots because why the hell not? Best to make a good impression on a fellow punk chick. She took a moment to snatch the long, silky, black ribbon that hung on a peg next to her mirror and quickly tied it into a bow in her hair, then fetched her piercing chest and dug a couple pieces of metal out to stick on her face. Septum, eyebrow, lower lip rings, gold was the color of choice today.

Once she was properly decked out, she took a second to reply to Ax's messages.

TO: Badass Birdy [17:03]

where we meetin?
u got weelz?
pick me up! =^- . -^=
otherwise well hit da bus sucka
gardens in ten 15

Once she'd hit send on the last hastily-typed message, she set about retrieving the rest of her effects. The Avenger, with its long, carved ivory handles, had been resting near the door on a shelf. She took it and slipped it into the leather holster she sometimes used to carry it, since she wasn't bringing her jacket, and attached it to her belt, resting just above her perky butt. Nice. Then, she slipped on her platform boots, tucked her pants in, and she was out the door, hoping to get there first. Now she was getting kind of excited!

A few minutes later, she was in the courtyard, striking a flip-lighter and burning up a cigarette. She wouldn't mind if Ax ran a few minutes late. Anything to get her mind off Mauve. So far, so good.

[Ax L Rose]

fuck the airship
we'll get to town in style
meet at fountain out in front of beacon tower
c u soon c:

Ax was seldom one to pass up a chance to do something fun with a new friend, even though she really didn't have any sort of plan or a clear goal in mind for what she wanted to do out in town with Fuchsia. On the bright side, she had time to figure it out. She and Fu could talk a little en route to the garage, and then Ax could think through where they were going on the long, winding back roads that cut through the Emerald Forest and led to Vale's agricultural district.

With her guitar case slung over her shoulder and her gauntlet secured on her left hand, she gave herself a final look in the mirror. She paused to roll up her right sleeve all the way up to her bicep, willed her hardlight feathers into being, tossed her hair back, tried on a smile, slipped on her greaves, and marched out the door. It was a short walk out to the meeting spot, and Ax was pleased to find that Fuchsia was already there and waiting for her near the fountain.

She rose a hand in greeting as she approached from the walkway, a faint little slip of a smile on her lips. She was pretty sure Fu could get in trouble for smoking out here, but thankfully there wasn't a whole lot of foot traffic at the tower at the moment, and it wasn't Ax's style to snitch. Her eyes took in the sight of Fu's outfit and her makeup, and she quickly decided she liked what she was seeing. Had she forgotten how hot Fu was since they'd met? She remembered her look being a lot more casual when they'd met in the past. Then again, she'd been dressed pretty casually at the time too.

"Someone's got their ass kickin' boots on tonight," Ax said approvingly. One hand rested in her pocket, while the other rested on the strap of her guitar case.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Fu hadn't had to wait very long. She was about half way done with her smoke when she heard a familiar voice from nearby, and she turned her head, quickly hopping from where she was sitting and putting her cigarette out on the concrete, dropping it into one of her cargo pockets for later.

"Ha, you bet yer ass I do," she said, putting one foot out in front of her and admiring her spiked shit-kickers. These things were one of the most expensive pieces of gear she owned, but they'd been well worth the money. Steel-plated toes, thick belts, and sharp spikes... All the trappings of combat-ready footwear. She was looking forward to the day when she'd finally get to crack some Grimm skulls with these bad boys.

She took a moment to look over Ax in return, grinning a sharp grin. She'd remembered Ax was smokin', but now that they were in person again, the thought was driven home.

"And yer lookin' pretty scorchin' yourself, if I say so, and I do say so," she quipped, placing one hand on her hip and inclining a finger toward Ax.

"Welp, I'm ready to roll if you are. I'm curious to see what kinda ride you got. Super fancy Atlas airship? Nah... Not metal enough. Oh, I know! I bet it's a crazy Dust-powered battle tank with like, twenty armor-piercing machineguns on it. Yeah, I think that shoe fits ya better." She chuckled and bat her pretty eyelashes at Ax, making her face look momentarily a bit more feminine than it usually did. Her ability to blend cute with crazy was a bit uncanny at times.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's eyes lowered down to her own footwear - metal-plated boots that looked downright medieval from the front, but that clearly had a raised heel from the side. They featured the same lightning-bolt imagery as her shining zircon earrings and her matching navel stud. There were ass-kickin' boots... and then there were boots designed to slay gods. Ax couldn't help but silently think that there was probably some room to improve the visuals a little. Maybe the MKII version of these greaves would look more stylish.

Ax definitely looked more put-together than the last time they'd met. There was much better light out at the moment, and a faint rosy hue on her cheeks seemed to bring her expression to life. Her eye-makeup was flawless, and she'd clearly put a lot of time and energy into her hair too. Ax might've looked pretty hot, but she also looked like trouble on a pair of long and shapely legs. Then again, one could almost certainly say the same about her feline companion!

"Psssh," Ax rolled her eyes and grinned at Fu's first guess about her vehicle, playing at modesty. She turned and gestured for the cat to follow, leading the way towards the garages. It was a less serene walk than some other parts of the academy grounds and they'd be passing by a few buildings on the way, but it would be a more brief walk than heading to the skyway.

Fu's rather eccentric guesses about her vehicle made her miss the Tomahawk! Her new wheels were nice, but the Tomahawk was in a league of its own. Someday, somehow, she'd get it back. Until then... she'd have to hope Fu was impressed with something more conventional. She tilted her head back to look at Fu as she walked.

"Shit, sounds like I'm in trouble," she said with a brief, low chuckle. "What'm I gonna do when you find out that I've got a mundane streak just like any other chick?" Ax mused aloud. She reached into her pocket with her free hand and pulled out her scroll. Her thumb was a little blur as she scrolled to pull up some old pictures. As soon as she found the one she was looking for she held it out to the side for Fu to take a look.

"Check it," Ax said. The image featured her sitting on a vehicle that, at a glance, looked like a shining chrome motorcycle. Closer inspection revealed it to be something else - there were actually two wheels on the front and the back, though they were mounted up in such a way where it was easy to mistake for one. The engine looked monstrous, and it featured a leather case on the back and enough room for two people to sit. Ax was seated and leaned almost fully forward, one hand on the handlebar, one hand held up and making devil horns. Her grin in the picture looked devious, as did her leaned-forward pose that seemed to highlight her cleavage.

"Stars, I fucking miss these wheels. S' too bad I can't take you on a ride on this thing. The Tomahawk could fucking bolt! It had regulators that used gravity dust to keep the thing grounded at high speeds. Good thing too, this monster had some maaaajor lift whenever the regulators were disengaged."

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

"You might be worried now, but what am I gunna do when you realize that my mundane outstrips yours? Heck, you got me beat, I don't even have a ride!" Fuchsia's good humor was apparent in her voice, and she followed along at Ax's side while she led them through the buildings toward the garage. She'd never been to Beacon's garage, for the very reason she'd just mentioned, but her mental images of such a place looked more like a military-grade armory than any kind of actual parking garage.

When Ax held up her Scroll, though, Fuchsia's curiosity spiked and she stared, her mouth in the shape of a little 'o', before she reached out and pressed the button on the screen for Local Sharing, quickly taking out her own Scroll and saving the pic for herself.

"Mine!" she declared, and went about setting it up as Ax's new profile pic in her saved contacts. Definitely perfect. Then, she slid her Scroll back into her back pocket, and turned her attention back to Ax proper.

"It definitely sounds like a beast. Too bad you don't have it anymore, I'd have love to have a ride on that thing... But, by the sound of it, you've got a backup plan in place, or you wouldn't be saying such grand things as "in style". But, now you've got me curious. We talkin' suped up hovercraft? Oh, I know... One of those big shiny disk things that aliens drive!" It was clearly obvious that she was teasing at this point, she was certain. Still, her curiosity remained, and her tail whipped back and forth through the air as they walked, a testament to her growing anticipation.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax more or less let Fu do her thing, piecing together what was happening and offering no protest. The way she saw it, this outcome beat Fu having a lame default photo of her on her scroll by a landslide. She might as well let the kitty have a picture of her that was actually halfway worth staring at, right?

"You're killin' me, babe. Prolly better if I just show you rather than talk it up, yeah?" Ax said, putting her scroll away as they made their way onward towards the garages connected to the academy workshop.

Evidently Ax knew exactly where she was going. She felt like she spent a ton of time in this building nowadays. Being an assistant during open shop hours had given her a lot of familiarity with the building, and she used the skyway a lot less than most of the other students thanks to the wheels she owned. Soon enough they were in a long passageway where staff and students parked their vehicles, lit up with fluorescent lights. Ax's bike was set up in a dim little spot with a locker near it. She gestured at the sporty-looking royal blue machine with a sweeping gesture of her arm.

"Tah-daaah! She's a more conventional street bike, but she's still got style. Honestly, I think the color was what did it for me most," Ax said with a grin. The bike matched the color of her exposed cybernetic arm quite nicely. She then stepped over to the locker, raising a hand to mess with a combination on a rather old-fashioned looking lock.

"You prefer goggles or a helmet?" Ax looked back to ask as she cracked open the locker.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Fuchsia had to smirk at her response. Well, she supposed she hadn't changed much in the last few years if she was still poking people like this. Being annoying was her favorite past-time, though she did markedly refrain from going overboard compared to her escapades in her youth. The anticipation was really what was killing her, and fantasizing about warmachines was a better way to go than letting it sink in proper.

When they entered the garage, though, having never been here before, her eyes lit up with curiosity and interest as she started taking in the myriad vehicles parked in neat little rows. As she'd assumed, there were all sorts of rides here, a veritable plethora of speed. Everything from bikes to trucks, and all in between. There were even a couple bicycles chained up near the lockers. Naturally, her eyes were drawn first to one of the largest machines in the place, a huge, bright red truck with floodlights on top and wheels over half the size of her own body. Now that was a ride she'd love to see in action. She wondered who it belonged to. But she didn't waste too much time drinking in the sights, since her curiosity was killing her, and when Ax pointed out her own set of wheels, Fu's eyes sparkled, her face showing her enthusiasm.

"Woah... Bitchin'!" she exclaimed, taking in the sheer style and power this machine seemed to offer.

"We get to ride this thing into town? Now I'm hyped! This is gunna be better than dinner and a movie," she said, grinning ear to ear. She hoped her baggy pants wouldn't be a problem, but then again this thing was sleek and compact, the chances they'd get caught in the drive train were probably slim, especially since everything was covered by angled plate as far as she could tell. It was a sweet ride. She'd never been on a bike before, either. Fuchsia felt a thrill run through her for what it might be like... And soon, she'd get to find out!

When Ax asked her preference, though, she lifted an eyebrow.

"C'mon... It ain't obvious?" she teased, then pointed at her large, wide ears, clearly unsuitable for any sort of headgear.

"I'll take the goggles you silly bird. Man, I can't believe I get to ride this thing!" Her voice flowed effortlessly from humor to excitement, radiating a higher pitch that probably made her seem like an instant fangirl. Fuchsia stepped closer to the bike and took a better peek at it, leaning this way and that and checking out all the different bits and baubles, but respectfully without touching anything. She did not want to damage what was sure to be an expensive piece of technology. All the while, her tail snaked to and fro, her ears dipping and pointing and flicking about. She was almost a kitten with a yarn ball.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax's ride was a beautiful and complex-looking piece of engineering, accented with gold, chrome, and silvery-teal metals of a more exotic nature. There were prominent-looking circular vents on the sides and segmented panels where softly glowing wiring conducted elemental energy throughout. A black leather case was fit onto the back, along with straps for securing other important possessions like her guitar case. The seat was long enough for two people to sit fairly comfortably, assuming one didn't mind clinging onto the driver while they rode, and it'd be a somewhat tight fit. The chassis was polished and clearly very beautifully maintained. This thing didn't look cheap. It might not have been the Tomahawk, but Ax clearly still took care of it. That, or this thing was really new.

Ax grinned as she stepped away from the locker, locking it up behind her and offering Fu a pair of riding goggles. She then rose a pair of old-fashioned looking aviators with silvery rims over her eyes. She tactfully decided against pointing out that she had a helmet that would be faunus-friendly, as she, too, preferred eyewear over a helmet. There was nothing like the feeling of wind in her hair, and she'd survived being ejected from the Tomahawk just fine with aura alone in the past. Not that she felt any need to tell that to Fu...

"Sounds like you've ridden before," Ax noted as she then stepped over behind the bike to secure her guitar case on the back. With that, she stepped over to the side, her heels clicking on the floor. She rose a leg and swung it over her bike, settling in and leaning forward. A little jolt of energy coursed from her gauntlet and metal hand into the handlebars, and the engine roared to life. Ax swung her head so her long light-pink hair mostly fell to one side and motioned with her head for Fu to settle in behind her.

Ax wasn't always the best at telling the difference between excitement and nervousness, so she was ready to offer reassurances and answer any questions Fu had before they headed off.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Fuchsia stood idly back and watched Ax go about her preparations, only stepping forward to take the goggles handed to her and slip them over the top of her ears, resting them on her forehead for now. It made her look like some kind of mechanic with her big ears floating above them, but her attention wasn't fixed on the bike anymore, it was fixed on the badass girl with long legs and a slick set of sunglasses while she mounted up on her bike. Dang... Beacon chicks were hot.

After being mildly distracted for a moment, she shook it off and answered her.

"Who, me? No, never. First time for everything," she said, and approached the bike, but that was when her nervousness would become apparent. For one, the slight hint of salt tugged at the surface of her flesh, she was only in a tanktop and the sweat of uneasiness could probably be smelled. Her ears took a posture simulating her unsureness, one tilted to the side and the other rotated the opposite direction, but she stood near the back of the bike and placed her hand on the seat, taking a moment to steel herself. Okay... So she was about to be on a super fast machine without a seatbelt and just a girl up front who she had to cling to in order to stay on...?

Fuck it.

Fuchsia all at once swung her brave leg over the side and climbed aboard as well, immediately leaning forward into Ax with the shape of the seat underneath her. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around Ax's waist, a little embarrassed by the position, what with her chest pressed up against her back and all, but it was otherwise comfortable... In fact, after a few seconds, and perhaps a bit more uneasiness, her cheek pushed up against Ax's spine. She lifted one hand and slid the goggles over her eyes, closing them for a moment.

It was that very moment that she realized something about the last three years of her life. It had been that long since she'd so much as hugged another person.

It wasn't really an appropriate time to realize that she'd been starved for physical affection but... Well, it was the truth. Needless to say, she got comfortable. She tried her best not to lean super hard up against Ax, for purposes of balance, but she did squeeze her waist a little tighter, perhaps out of unsureness, perhaps simply because she liked the feel of the taller girl's body. Okay, Fuchsia, no time to get too drawn in.

"So... How fast does this thing go?" she asked, raising her voice to be heard over the hum of the engine.

[Ax L Rose]

If Ax thought anything of Fu's moment of distraction, she didn't seem to see fit to comment on it. A mischievous little smirk formed on her lips as she waited for Fu to join her. As the dark-haired cat approached, Ax reached back with a hand to push her tail feathers mostly to the side. It didn't seem to bother Ax too much to do - while it wasn't the most comfortable way to sit, it beat having someone sit directly on said feathers.

"Really?" Ax blinked, her tone suggesting surprise. Fu's enthusiasm had led her to a different impression. Well, what Fu was feeling now made a lot more sense. She must've been nervous about the ride. That, and she was probably nervous about how intimate this whole arrangement was. Despite this, Fu seemed to offer no complaints, marching on forward and accepting her fate. Ax shrugged her shoulders gently and she did her best not to make a big thing about it. Maybe if she tried to be calm and composed, it'd rub off a little. That, and it would probably be hard to be nervous about a little physical touch when they were experiencing the thrill of flying through the forest at more than 200 miles per hour.

There was a part of Ax that felt her own nerves kick in, particularly as Fu's toned arms slipped around Ax's exposed middle and held tight. Close physical contact tended to intensify signals, and it was easy for Ax to feel a lot of things right now. The main thing Ax was feeling at the moment was Fu's chest up against her back. The spike in nerves would be worth it - when they started to accelerate, there wouldn't be any room in their hearts for anything other than adrenaline, Ax reminded herself. She exhaled a cool little breath as she felt Fu's cheek press against her upper back soon after. While Ax was outwardly a model of composure and she seemed to be at ease, it wasn't effortless to come off that way at a time like this. Fortunately, Ax was very accustomed to white-knuckling through her fears by this point in her career as a student of Beacon. She answered the cat's question by revving the engine, and a second later they started to roll forward.

"Let's find out!" Ax grinned in anticipation. Having a pretty girl riding along with her was always fun, too. The bike accelerated pretty fast, but Ax's control over the engine was smooth and steady as they picked up speed. Soon enough they were back out in the air, the sky stretching out ahead of them beyond the trees. It was a bit of a trip on wheels to get to Vale using the back roads through the forest, but Ax knew the route like the back of her gauntlet. She'd ridden it a hundred times at least since coming to Beacon. She could clear that distance pretty fast.

As they reached the end of the academy's grounds, Ax rose a hand to switch on her speakers. A sound like rattling on metal heralded the beginning of a song that Ax felt was perfect for a high-speed drive through the Emerald Forest. The music was pretty loud - it had to be to be heard over the roar of the engine as Ax's blue motorbike started to accelerate much more quickly than before.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

It was true, somehow Fuchsia had evaded some of the finer things in life such as straddling the back of a magnificent machine with a female of the same cut and quality, holding on lest she be thrown backward and forced to use her Aura in what would undoubtedly be a tuck-and-roll maneuver that she wasn't prepared for. The prospect was making her a little bit anxious, which tied up her stomach somewhat, however having somebody else here at least made her more daring. It felt like a minor test, after all this was a date, and what was she going to do, be a complete stick-in-the-mud and say no to the bike and the babe?

Nah, she was in this to win this.

Ax's response to her question though, coupled with the sudden jerk as they started moving both surprised and delighted her, and she squealed with a mixture of each, though it soon devolved into a light conflagration of laughter that left her clutching much tighter onto Ax's hips. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit scared... Technology wasn't her strong suit. She hadn't been in many motorcars let alone on motorcycles, and she'd never even ridden an airship until she'd come to Beacon, where she'd managed in one short month to triple the figure of the ride over. She was being exposed to a world she didn't quite understand yet; how could she not be excited about this?

And so it was that they picked up speed, and her heart pounded faster and faster with the exhilarating rush of acceleration, then suddenly she could hear it; music, over the sound of the wind whipping into her ears, which she quickly learned to flatten back against her head or else they'd act much like large sails and start tugging at her neck. At first, she wasn't sure about the song, wondering if it was one of those new-fangled weird electric-type ditties, however her doubt in Ax was misplaced as far as this went, and soon enough it began to jam, the sound of heavy guitar mixing with the strange beat. Not her first choice for music, but hey, it wasn't bad!

Slowly, she began to adjust to the speed, and by the time they took their first long curve in the road, she'd began to smile widely. Experimentally, she released one hand from Ax and stuck it out slightly from the bike, catching the wind. She'd never quite felt air pressure like this before. It was quite interesting, she could feel the air!

She finally decided that she liked this. It was a glorious day, and the beauty of nature streaked by them like green smears on a canvas.

"WOOOO!" she screamed, unable to think of any other way to express herself at this moment, but soon enough she felt herself slipping a little and immediately clung to Ax again like a cat might when one attempts to pluck it from a couch.

[Ax L Rose]

The thrill of acceleration in time with the roar of her bike's engine gave Ax all the reassurance she needed! The sound of Fu letting out a gleeful laugh as her grip tightened around Ax's firm stomach was a needed reminder that the point of all this was just to have fun. Ax didn't need to think so much. She just needed to be present and enjoy the moment for what it was. Wasn't life so much better when she was open to the endless possibilities of the present, instead of living in fear of the future?

Ax's lips moved along with the guiding voice of the vocalist's as the song picked up. She started to sing along softly, but she couldn't be heard well at all over the roar of the engine nor the wind rushing all around them as they picked up speed. Her posture also wasn't exactly perfect for controlling her breath well enough to really perform, but it didn't matter; she wasn't performing. Fu might hear the shake of her voice through her back, but the music itself took center stage. Ax loved this song, and thanks to her semblance, it couldn't have been more obvious.

"Find somewhere pure
An island in the sky
Be on my own
And make me feel alive,"

They soared through the forest, down straightaways and long curves. The bike sounded monstrous and high-tech as it progressed to higher speeds, gears shifting. The machine shook briefly as they approached a hill, only to suddenly smooth out with a loud click. Sparks lit the air around them, flashing as regulators kicked in. The bike and the riders were being anchored to the road with gravity dust! They burned their way up and over hills with shocking smoothness and little discernible lift. It was an extremely smooth ride, all thanks to the physics-defying capabilities of dust-tech.

Ax's whole body leaned in tandem with the bike as she smoothly navigated the gentle curves of the long winding road to Vale. She had a great sense of how fast she could take each turn thanks to how many times she'd ridden this way, and she apparently took joy in absolutely obliterating the speed limit. There wasn't much for traffic, but Ax smoothly weaved her way around a few vehicles along the way. They were going so fast that they quickly left each car they passed in the proverbial dust. She kept singing along even as Fu vented her adrenaline with an ecstatic yell, and it brought a satisfied smile to Ax's lips. There were few things better than this... a fast ride through the forest with strong arms clinging around her stomach, a pretty girl pressing up against her back, and a hint of joyful resonance between them. Ax never got bored of going fast.

Eventually Ax saw the sign up ahead that pointed them off the road to their first stop; a scenic overlook near the edge of the cliffs. She pulled off the main road and came to a gradual stop, lowering her leg to the pavement as they parked. Adrenaline still lingered in her veins, and she figured Fu would need a second before they hopped up and walked down the nearby path to the overlook, with this being her first ride and all. Ax said nothing - she simply turned her head back, craning her head as if trying to look back at Fu with a seemingly smug smile on her glossy pink lips.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

With the way they were picking up speed, Fuchsia had to wonder at this thing's full capabilities. She wasn't a scientist, but she did know that the faster you went, the harder it was to handle. That much was true just on her own two quick feline feet, so when they began to shake slightly due to the speed, she bit her lip nervously, that feeling washing over her for a moment until, just as fast as it started, it stopped. She looked around them, and she could see it, the signs of the Dust being used to steady them. Wow, that's crazy, she thought, she never would have guessed that this ride was going to be this smooth at such a high speed! It was just like standing still, only they were flying at an absolutely incredible speed, and they just kept getting faster. By now, everything was whipping by. In fact, there wasn't much use in trying to see the sights. This was the first time she'd been down this road, but she'd have to come again if she wanted to really check it out. Then again, how much could a little road really afford her?

She could just barely hear Ax singing along to the song she'd put on, and it made her smirk. Birds and their singing, what could she say?

They very quickly caught up to a car driving down the road, it was going much slower than they were and by the time they'd reached it, they were already passing it. She turned and waved to the somewhat bewildered old-timer and his truck, as he swiftly retreated from her vision, she could've sworn she saw him shaking his head in judgement of their teenage antics. That was about when she'd realized that she'd been smiling pretty much non-stop. This was fun! And, being aware of the law as she was, she had to appreciate that they were taking the suggestion of speed as little into consideration as possible. They weren't gunna let The Man get them down today!

Fuchsia was starting to get the hang of riding in back. The first few turns they'd taken, she wasn't sure how to balance herself, and mostly ended up trying to stay as straight and upright as she could in the turn, her tail counterbalancing her and curving backward to be as aerodynamic as possible, but she'd realized quickly that it was better to lean with the driver than against her. Aside from that, since she had the excuse, she made the most of getting free hugs on Ax whenever it felt right to do so. This gave her an interesting perspective on the girl she'd only recently met. She could feel her athletic body, her toned muscles, all of the things that normally one might have to buy a few dinners before discovering. She liked what she could feel, though. Very nice. She did her best not to accidentally grope the girl, though, keeping it PG and around her waist and stomach and latching a hand onto her hip once or twice when she twisted around to get a look behind them.

After awhile longer of cruising along at dangerous speeds, they came upon what appeared to be a rest stop of some sort, and Ax quickly pulled over, which prompted her to straighten back up and grasp her about the waist again. She'd expected stopping might've been a chore, but with Ax's fit body there to stop her, she was easily able to brace up against her while the forward momentum of their slowing smushed her gently into Ax's back a bit. When they finally stopped completely with a slight jolt, the first thing she did was reach up to feel her ears. They were pretty cold to the touch, and flattened back along the top of her head, and she had to take a moment to rub them and revive them while she processed the full extent of what she'd just done.

It had only been a matter of minutes and they were already like, half way to Vale, she was pretty sure they might've been going faster than an airship! Finally, when her ears were nice and perky again, she stepped from the bike and lifted the goggles, rubbing at her eyes, letting out a long, drawn-out breath and blinking in amazement. She looked a bit disheveled, her hair had been tussled by the wind and was a might bit fluffier than it had been before, but it gave her a bit of a wild look. She rubbed at her arms to warm them too, her hand passing over the flock of butterflies tattooed above her left wrist. She'd been wearing little more than a sports bra and a tanktop after all, and her flesh had grown a little cold with the speed. Still, the day was warm, and it wasn't long before she had thawed a bit.

"Man... That was intense," she said matter-of-factly, pointing back down the road with an outstretched arm and finger. She looked to Ax with a big, pointy grin on her face, and her tail, similarly coming back to life after the ride and just as bushy as her hair was now, whipped about behind her enthusiastically.

"I can't believe you do this kinda stuff all the time, mega bonus points to you. How come we stopped, though? Is this where you're taking me?" Now her usual flirtatious demeanor was returning, too.

"Normally you're supposed to buy me dinner and sit through a movie before we go to Makeout Point, but I might make an exception after that," she joked, stretching her arms over her head to loosen her back muscles up a bit.

[Ax L Rose]

There were a lot of things to like about motorcycle rides. Fu seemed somehow more alive than before, and this was a pretty great way to break a little of the ice between herself and another person. Flying at insane speeds could be scary, but it could also be incredibly fun. That, and you had to get really comfortable being really close to someone... being touched, and having someone else touching you. There were a lot of situations where a stray touch would've set Ax off and she'd have been zealously enforcing boundaries over it, but for whatever reason she felt a little more at ease with this sort of thing when a person was literally depending on her to steer.

Ax's hair, strangely, was still marvelous despite the wind. It must've been something in the hair products she used? She was a model of composure even despite the lingering euphoria of the ride leaving her hands trembly. She scooted forward just a bit to make it easy for Fu to hop off, and then arched her back until she heard a crack. She reached back to adjust and smooth out her tail feathers, seemingly undaunted by the side effects of going really fast. Maybe she was just used to the cold - Ax wasn't wearing significantly more than Fu. She'd stayed pretty warm to the touch at least while they were on the bike.

"Seems she likes to go fast," Ax remarked with a playful grin, rotating her upper body to glance over at the cat, before raising a hand and lowering her sunglasses. The slightly disheveled look Fu had going on now was strangely kind of doing it for her, and her tail was absolutely mesmerizing to watch. It was so... expressive! Ax seemed to momentarily forget that, with her sunglasses lowered like this, Fu could see her checking her out as plain as day. Well, there were worse things than Fu maybe figuring out that she was beautiful, assuming she didn't already know it on some level. The bird at least had decency enough to act coy about being so obvious - Ax rolled her eyes upward to the sky in a subtle little display of mock innocence after being "caught".

"Don't you worry, kit-cat. This is just the first stop," Ax replied coolly. Her eyes flicked back to Fu and her eyes widened almost imperceptibly at what the girl said after that. Ax was surprised. She'd been here a few times before, but she'd never heard of this spot getting called "Makeout Point". Eh, but it checked out! Beautiful view of the waterfalls one direction, overlook with a great view of the city in the other... it kind of lost some of the effect if someone knew about it already, didn't it? Well, it was still early. There would be other chances to impress Fuchsia.

Ax switched off the engine and rose from the bike. As soon as her boots were back on the ground, Ax faced Fu and seemingly started to mimic her, raising her own arms high. It might've been subconscious. It could just as easily have been deliberate distraction.

"An exception for lil' ol' me, huh?" Ax smiled a dazzling, pretty smile, making a show of stretching and showing off a little of what Fu had just been hanging onto. That was the thing about being beautiful; sometimes instead of actually being witty, you could just be really pretty at someone and let them look at you. It could be pretty convenient at times... when it worked at least.

"That's encouraging," she blinked lazily at Fu like a cat with her deep blue eyes. "It's a nice view of the city. We don't have to make out," Ax noted with a little shrug as she turned and started to lead the way down the path. At the end of the road beyond there was clear blue sky, and a little bench near the edge.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Well, it seemed after their ride that the humor between them wasn't lost, and true to form, Ax seemed to keep up with her pace no problem. While she was stretching, tail-wagging, and generally acting cat-like, she'd of course noticed the vivid blue eyes on her with some amusement. She decided to peacock a bit, placing her hands under her hair and fluffing it up somewhat to give it a bit of volume, putting a hand under her chin, making sure to settle her weight just a bit more on one hip and let her natural curves take over from there. She'd forgotten how much of an ego-boost it was to have a good-looking girl stare like that, it was enough to bring a bit of a blush up to her tanned cheeks.

Of course, Fuchsia hadn't ever been here before. But judging by where they were, and the classic description of such spots colloquially referred to as "makeout" points, she figured this place fit the bill pretty damn well. The view from up here was gorgeous, and, in fact, she'd never seen a view like this before in her life. The flashes of memory when she thought back to her days in Mantle were full of cityscape and ice, and while she had before seen some particularly beautiful cliffs and things, there was nothing like that to compare to the verdant green and deeper blue of Vale's natural landscapes. It easily beat the white-and-grey of her hometown. Out in the distance, the City of Vale's skyline cut a distinctive silhouette through the surrounding green, and her gold eyes stared unblinkingly at it from afar for a moment while her thoughts were briefly removed from the situation at hand. She still couldn't believe how far she'd come. She was a bit more than halfway across Remnant now. This city was a surreal picture of safety and life that Atlas couldn't hold a candle to. Mantle looked, in comparison, nothing more than a smouldering crater filled with slums and surrounded by the large chains that held them in captivity to the floating city above. One of the things that felt the most freeing about being here is that she didn't have to wake up every day to the sun being blotted out by a huge rock in the sky. She didn't feel the anxiety of having a military dictatorship literally hovering above her every waking second of the day. And out here, she really felt free.

Fuchsia had been kind of standing there, mesmerized for a moment, but she still registered Ax's words, and followed her along down the trail that led to the bench overlooking the cliffside. In a sudden burst of energy, she flew ahead of Ax and performed an impressive leap to clear the remaining distance to the bench, landing in a crouch, perched on top of it for just a second before she threw her legs out from under her and plopped down on the bench to sit. Her tail spiraled momentarily behind her then settled for its relaxed question-mark shape, the tip flicking back and forth every so often. She looked back over her shoulder at her riding companion.

"I mean, we don't have to do anything," she finally said, giving Ax a pretty little smile that narrowed her eyes and brought out that predatory side of her visage, "But... Fun is fun, and that's what I want. Unless you don't like smoochin'?" Now, as she tilted her head slightly in an inquisitive manner, the angle of light changed on her face and made her look that much more impish. She was teasing, in fact this was an old habit of hers that she had to catch herself on after she'd already uttered the words. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about snogging Ax. She could, but whether or not it'd be satisfying was another thing entirely. Kissing had never really been particularly interesting to her, it was a simple gesture after all, and held nothing more exciting to her than holding hands or hugging. It was just physical touch, and at this current moment, she'd already been pretty satisfied by how much touching she'd been allowed to do. Especially considering their meeting and how Ax had mentioned her thing about touch. Apparently that rule didn't apply when they were riding. She'd take it, in any case.

"Ahhh, all right all right, I'll leave you alone. I'm only teasin'. C'mon, come sit with me. Tell me a story. Oooh, I know, tell me something weird about Vale, like, do you know facts or something? I'm still tourist-level here. It's only been a couple weeks," she said, and her golden gaze turned back toward the city. She tongued her lip piercing a couple times, staring down at Vale again, while her thoughts returned to where they'd been before. If this was the place she was supposed to defend, now that she was training to be a Huntress... That wouldn't be so bad at all, would it?

[Ax L Rose]

It was pretty hard to resist looking a little more with Fu practically posing for her. She seemed sincerely flattered by the attention so far, so Ax made a point to stop, pull out her scroll, and center her camera on Fu. Her eyes flicked briefly up to the cat as if to check and make sure she was cool with it first before snapping a pic. Fuchsia's response to the view beyond as they made their way down the path was even more of a perfect moment for some amateur photography, so Ax took a couple more photos of a more pensive, serious-looking Fuchsia. She could probably put some of these up on her socials or something, assuming Fu didn't mind...

Ax lowered the scroll thoughtfully when she noticed the sort of vacant look in Fu's eyes. She examined her face and her body language when she looked her over this time, more trying to get an idea of what she was thinking this time rather than just perving out. It didn't seem like Fu was sad or anything, so that was good at least.

Next thing she knew, Fu was springing forth like an acrobat. Ax picked up the pace a little, stepping past the bench toward the rail at the very edge of the overlook. She propped her elbows up against the rail and bent slightly forward, peering over the ledge before shifting so that her back was to the rail and she was facing Fuchsia again. She tried to keep a broad grin from breaking out over her lips at Fuchsia's playful teasing, before tilting her head to continue mirroring the cat. Cogs were turning behind those piercing baby blues, trying to figure work out some things about Fu as they went.

It was tempting to bite the hook. Ax wasn't exactly inclined to overthink it - it seemed like it'd be really fun to kiss Fu. The dark-haired punk very clearly liked to tease, but there was something else beneath the surface that kept Ax from acting on impulse. It could have just been simple nervousness. Fu might've found Ax to be sexually intimidating, maybe? She probably wouldn't have been the first. Maybe she had some other unresolved hangups that Ax could presently only speculate about at best. No matter in this case; patience paid off. Fu spoke up again soon enough, her words giving Ax just enough clarity about her real comfort level to be satisfied. She pushed off the railing and took a seat, shifting her butt so that her tail feathers moved to the side and poked out from the side below the armrest, most of her weight on her hip, her hand resting on the bench between them.

Ax pursed her lips to the side in thought, as if deciding what fun facts she had were the best to share. Ax's honest impression was that Fu probably didn't really care about Vale right now. This struck her, most likely, as an attempt to keep things from getting too intimate too fast. Whether Fu was mindfully aware of her behavior or not was another subject entirely.

"Tch, yeah, who needs smoochin' when you've got national trivia? Waaay more fun, right?" Ax gave Fuchsia a sly smirk.

"Wacky statistics? Archaic laws? Creepy legends? What's your poison, kit-cat?"

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

The picture-taking was very welcome. Ax could have all the pictures she wanted, as far as Fuchsia was concerned, there existed very little snapshots of her out there at the moment so as far as that went, she figured Ax was doing the world a favor. After all, she knew just how attractive she was, it was baked into her brain, given her past-times and her experience. It was a blessing and a curse. Sometimes people got a little too over-zealous because of it. Still, she had to note that Ax didn't. In fact, considering Ax was probably in the same boat here, she kinda took it in stride and it didn't seem to intimidate her much at all. It was either that or she was really good at hiding it. The thought made her smirk.

She did get a quick opportunity to snap a photo of her own. Ax didn't sit down right away, instead she went to the railing on the edge of the overlook, and when she turned around, Fu already had her Scroll ready and snapped a couple photos. Her adrenaline still high, her hands were kind of shaking, and one was blurry, but the other was perfect, and she deleted the worst of the two then slipped her Scroll back into her pocket. When Ax moved back over to sit down, she scooted aside to make room and put one foot up on the bench opposite Ax, resting her arm there while her other hand landed on the bench next to Ax's. It felt a little comically cheesy, but she kind of liked the whole proximity-without-hand-holding thing. Honestly, she was a little surprised with herself... She and Ax were evidently fast friends, and though they hadn't really known each other very long, she had to say that everything she'd managed to absorb so far was right up her alley. The bike, the looks, the sense of humor, and most of all, the patience... It was a subtle thing, but she'd caught on. Ax didn't overstep herself like a lot of people did. She could stare at a wall blankly, and rather than getting a million questions, Ax took a picture of her. It was kind of... Nice. She wasn't used to it.

For a moment, Fu looked at Ax, trying to read her face. Then, she remembered what Ax had said about her Semblance. Didn't she, like... Know what she was feeling? For a moment, she grew a little embarrassed at this realization. Then again, Ax didn't seem to be prying with it? She didn't understand it, she realized, not the full extent of it at least, just that it wasn't like... Mind-reading, per se. So maybe that's why it happened?

Ax shot a quip at her that was pretty hard to ignore. It was really evident at about this time that not only would she have been totally cool with smooching Ax, but it was entirely possible that Ax wanted her to do it, was egging her on, and not only that, but she wanted to do it. There was a sudden flare of lust, at least she guessed that's what it was, it mingled with her adrenaline high and made her heart race a little. There was only a moment of hesitation when she remembered what Ax had said about touching, but that was quickly overridden in her brain by willpower and the fact they'd already done more than what she was about to do when they were on the bike. Smooching was just a tiny touch, after all...

So she did it.

With a little growl, and a big blush, she leaned over swiftly, her hand finding Ax's cheek so she could straighten her face out and not miss, then she planted a kiss right to her lips. It only lasted maybe a second and a half, then she sat back, her ears bent at odd angles and she hugged her knee and looked away. She was clearly embarrassed, now. She wasn't really sure why, but she had a guess. Ax was a cool chick, she'd been impressed, she hoped it was mutual, but she didn't really know. Plus, they'd not even made it to their date!

"...Creepy legends," she said, her voice cracking while she took a moment to compose herself, eyes settled on the city in the distance.

[Ax L Rose]

Despite Ax's occasionally sardonic sense of humor, she hadn't really considered how easily her words could come off like a challenge. She'd mostly just been simply trying to be observant and attentive - if she could pay attention, she could usually be witty. She was caught off guard by the intent that clearly manifested in Fuchsia's golden eyes, as well as the sensation like a knot twisting in her chest that came with it. For a flicker of a moment before their lips met, Ax couldn't help but think of Nym. Ax blamed her eyes and the little growl that rumbled low in her throat. Maybe it was the dark hair, the expressive ears, or the dual-trait combo of ears and a tail?

The unwanted comparison lingered in Ax's mind only very briefly, thankfully. Fuchsia and Nym had a very different sort of emotional energy, a different taste, a different level of intensity behind what they did and what they felt for her. Fu's hand finding her face was gentle and kind of sweet, but the kiss had happened so fast that Ax could barely keep up. Her eyes flickered shut just in time for Fu to retreat. When Ax's eyes fluttered back open, her expression seemed surprised!

As tempting as it was to look at a situation like this and feel flattered and egotistical, what specific things they did together mattered a bit less than how they felt about it. Fu's body language was effortless to read even without the supernatural insight of Ax's semblance - this pretty kitty was clearly not entirely comfortable with this turn of events, even if she'd initiated the kiss. This wasn't going to be a fun adventure if she wasn't comfortable. Ax couldn't help but crack a smile as Fu uncertainly specified her favored style of trivia. The tsundere thing was pretty cute. Fu was cute. Fu was also probably in need of some reassurance right about now, if Ax was reading this right.

At the same time, uncertainty was wiggling into the forefront of her mind. Fu had a vibrant soul and a strong personality. While Ax wanted to nip drama in the bud... it also felt a bit early to be adding anything that could be considered pressure to things, and that included any sort of serious conversation about boundaries, needs, or expectations. Ax wanted this to be fun and harmless. Simply not talking about it was an easy way to make them both miserable, though...

"...you seem a little tense, kit-cat. I... take it it's been a bit since your last kiss?" Ax asked, eager to break the tension. Creepy legends could wait at least a little bit, right?

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Fuchsia thankfully didn't have enough time to fully process her actions before Ax spoke up again. If she had, she probably would've started regretting things, which was pretty common for her. It wasn't because of anything, but she felt a little silly having done that and perhaps like she'd stuck her neck out a little further than it needed to be at first. Still, Ax picked up quick. Oh yeah, it had been awhile. But more than that, it had been even longer than that since a kiss had actually made her feel something important. She knew what this was. It was kind of like... a shift in the winds. She wasn't a kid anymore. This sort of thing would've been weirder to her if it wasn't meaningful. She'd have been even more uncomfortable. Those old habits of hers were long and surely gone, left behind with her addictions and her criminal record. Now, in a sense, she felt like a girl her age actually should when she got to kissing on a crush. It was a little bit melodramatic, but a little bit joyful. At least she could say it was exciting.

"That obvious...?" she purred, and finally looked back at Ax, sheepishly smiling though her eyes were at least tinged with a spread of doubt.

Then, all at once, that ridiculous self-confidence came back in like the tide, and she straightened up a little.

"I blame you. If anyone asks I'm tellin' 'em it was your fault," she said, but the way she was smiling, a light tinge of color to her cheeks, that said it all for her. Yeah, she was having fun. And sure, she was uncomfortable, but was that really a bad thing? As Ax had said... It had been awhile. Now that the immediate effects were starting to linger away, she wondered if they might kiss again before the day was over.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax gave a little noncommittal shrug, unsure if she could say it was obvious... Ax's perceptions on emotions, after all, weren't normal. Who was she to comment on what was obvious? She broke into a chuckle at Fu's followup comment. What a flatterer! This was fun.

Fu's composure coming back had the peripheral benefit of helping Ax's hyperactive mind slow down a few steps. For one, this wasn't the first time she and Fu were talking - they'd had a kind of nice heart-to-heart back on the rooftops at the dorms. Things hadn't changed so much that Fu didn't have some kind of idea of who she was with. Fu knew that Ax wasn't looking to just bed someone thoughtlessly, and Ax knew the same about her. Things really were just fine for now, even if a kiss had a way of affecting her judgment a bit...

"You can tell 'em I put a spell on you," Ax leaned a bit on the arm planted on the bench between them, leaning a little closer, her body language suggesting that she was relaxing a bit, getting more comfortable being close.

"...Fuchsia, do you... by chance partake in recreational substances?" Ax asked. She knew the cat smoked, but she didn't know how well it'd blow over if she broke out something else for them to smoke. This was one of the reasons she'd wanted to come out here... and she had another idea for something fun they could do before heading into town now that Fu had a bit of Ax's lip gloss on.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

There was tension and there was slack here in equal parts, it seemed that their earlier conversations, and this right here, these were telltale signs that this was their dynamic. They seemed to be figuring each other out, slowly but surely, both cautious in their own right, but both showing their personalities, putting them on for size.

A part of Fuchsia's brain was buzzing a little bit. She'd kissed Ax. How was that for brave? Scared money made none. And now Ax was leaning a little closer, getting comfortable, she guessed. Fu took the advance as a bit of a sign, and she leaned a little closer too, shifting her hand around to the other side of Ax's, their arms intersecting now, the pit of her elbow resting on the back of Ax's. Her eyes were sly, and her smile a little bit impish.

"Normally I'm the one castin' the spells. But hey... As for that? Only the right kinds, preferably the natural ones... I've been trying to be a good kitty, but... If you're offerin' what I think yer offerin'... Heh, what the hell, why not?" It had been some time since she'd smoked something other than tobacco. There was a very long list of things she wouldn't smoke, but she was pretty sure those were all off the table for Ax, too. She didn't look like a junkie. Fuchsia knew the look intimately. Nothing about the bird leaned that direction. She was talking about herb.

The alleycat took a moment to toss her head to the side, letting her long hair fall over one shoulder where it would be out of the way. Given the fact she had no human ears, a fact which might be obvious to Ax at this point, it was a little hard to stop loose strands from getting in her face, especially with her hair all puffed up from the ride. She let her free hand comb through it a few times.

[Ax L Rose]

Ax remained at ease even as Fu leaned in a little bit. It felt a little like they were old friends, didn't it? Maybe it was something about their banter, something about their body language. They felt a little like kindred spirits. Ax knew that Fuchsia had a pretty strong impulsive streak... and she knew she had one herself, as well. Ax felt pretty optimistic about this; it was already proving to be a pretty memorable time and they hadn't even actually reached town yet! Now that Ax thought about it, she didn't have very many close friends. She had tons of impersonal acquaintances and casual friends she'd semi-regularly interact with... but aside from Nym, most friends Ax made only got so close. Maybe Fuchsia would be different.

"Don't worry, I'm not about to reveal I'm into hard drugs all the sudden," Ax managed a little smirk with the words. It struck her as a worthwhile assurance to give - Ax generally wasn't willing to risk her promising future as a huntress for a high. If she got caught with this stuff, most likely the punishment would be a slap on the wrist. She reached for the thigh pack on her side and unzipped a pouch, pulling out a little black cylinder that looked like a part for some kind of machine. Then she unscrewed the top, revealing it to be a discreet, improvised little container for what appeared to be an already-rolled blunt.

"It's cherry-flavored paper," Ax noted, raising it and rolling it between two of her fingers with a sort of sheepish grin. This was an occasional thing for her... she didn't want to seem like too much of a stoner too fast, but she was getting a good vibe about Fuchsia. This would probably be fun.

"And... if you want, we could do blowbacks. Or uh, that's what they called them back in Atlas. I think they call it something else here in Vale," Ax's eyes flickered away only briefly in thought, hoping that Fu understood what she was talking about.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

The feelings Ax had swirling in her head were a mystery to Fuchsia, but hers were very nearly one in the same. Fuchsia had never had close friends before. She'd had people she thought were close friends, back in Mantle, ones that turned out to not have her best interest in mind at all, who'd thrown her under the bus in the most violent ways possible. Ones who'd helped along her addictions and her bad behaviors, who'd encouraged her to be a horrible person... But Ax wasn't like them. She could tell. She knew the type. She wasn't worried one bit about the substance she was being offered, and sure enough, her assumption was correct.

Cherry-flavored paper. Blowbacks. Fuchsia was grinning, the light color on her cheeks though, that stayed. This was... happening a little fast, she guessed, but it wasn't a bad thing. So, they were fast friends. She'd have to decompress this day overnight or tomorrow, she was certain, but right now, in the moment, the alleycat was anything but analytical.

"I had a feeling you were a good girl," she purred softly, somehow managing to make that sentence sound sultry instead of condescending, "I never doubted you. Course if you were in to hard drugs, well... That'd be a deal breaker, wouldn't it? Heh, but it's pretty obvious to me that you're not a junkie. I... Know the type." She offered a little shrug. She didn't have to go into it any deeper than that. Still, she braced her weight on the hand she'd rested on the bench and scooted a bit closer so that she was only a few inches away from fully leaning against Ax's side. She didn't feel the need to do that, but she'd be lying to herself if she'd convinced herself she didn't want to sit this close.

"Blowbacks? You mean like... shotguns?" Now her blush picked up a little bit more. That was... Kind of an intimate maneuver. Especially since it required them to basically kiss again... At least, the way she remembered it being done. The last time she'd done one of those... For a brief moment, she shivered, a light shake that traveled up her spine. It hadn't been herb she'd been smoking. Fuchsia violently shoved that memory from her head, rubbing her temple for a second before she shifted her weight onto her arm nearest Ax and threw her head sideways a little bit to rest her chin on her shoulder. Then, she bat her eyelashes.

"All right... I did say I wanted to have some fun. Let's give it a whirl," she purred, then smiled, holding Ax's gaze while she waited. She knew what to do, she was no stranger to the strange rituals people had when partaking of such substances.

[Ax L Rose]

She supposed she could have maybe thought this through a little more - it was pretty bold to suggest blowbacks so soon, especially given how some people liked to do them. But then again... they had just kissed, they were making eyes at "Makeout Point", and apparently they were both cool with calling this a date. Fu was giving a lot of good signals. She maybe seemed a little tense, but not so much she couldn't have some fun.

"I can be good... when I wanna be," Ax's eyes gave the cat another little slow blink, her lips curving back into a now familiar little smirk, watching contentedly even as Fuchsia scooted a little nearer.

"S' that what the kids call it now?" Ax's let out an amused little huff, nodding her head lightly. She felt her own cheeks start to radiate a little more heat - maybe Fu was imagining it already, lips locked as she breathed smoke into her lungs. It wasn't like Ax could blame her - she'd thought about it too. Fortunately, there was no need to be nervous - Ax had already accounted for this when she suggested it.

"That's the spirit," Ax flashed an approving grin before she raised the paper to her lips, one hand shielding the tip from the wind while her cybernetic thumb lit it - the same trick Ax had used to light her cigarette when they first met. She took the first hit just to get it rolling, before shifting in place so she was sitting fully upright and cross-legged on the bench, facing Fuchsia.

"Okay, lemme show you what to do," Ax began. "We'll use your hands. Just make a seal and suck in," Ax explained, raising her hand to rest the paper between her lips again. Her eyes flicked down as she casually reached out to take Fu's wrists before guiding them up and shaping them to form a her fingers into a little hand-tunnel around the paper. After that, Ax leaned in and let go of Fu's hands. She dimly realized that they'd lose smoke if Fu wasn't quick, so before she could think about it, she reflexively leaned up to rest her hands on the back of Fuchsia's neck and pull her in, helping guide her.

Ah, oh well. Ax spared it no thought - with their lips both pressed to Fu's hands, Ax made sure to get a lot of smoke going between them. A second later, Ax withdrew her hands and started to pull away, sucking in a deep breath of the smoke between her teeth.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

Fuchsia watched Ax while she lit up their little afternoon treat, idly wondering why, if she could have any kind of tech attachment, she'd opted to get a finger-lighter installed. Then again, she thought, she probably would've too, if she knew that was an option. It was pretty handy, you never needed to carry one or worry where you'd left it. Instead it was simply there on command. Still, once the joint had touched Ax's lips, she started to grow a little nervous herself. Actually, she wasn't quite sure... Was she nervous, or was Ax rubbing off on her? Perhaps it was a little of both?

Well, getting high with a cute girl was fun, but she supposed she was nervous about the prospect of getting stoned while on a date. She hoped it wouldn't turn her into a bumbling fool. She'd never really had that issue, historically speaking, but she didn't want to make a bad impression in any case... Oh well, what was a little herb gunna do? She could handle it.

She turned herself toward Ax when the bird turned toward her, putting her other foot onto the bench and then spreading her legs sideways, one resting up against the back of the bench and the other loosely hanging over the edge so she could lean forward a bit and ready her hands while Ax instructed her. She wasn't quite sure what they were doing, now, she'd expected something different, but Ax's hands soon found hers in guidance. The smooth metal of her cybernetic arm made the back of her wrist tingle slightly with the touch, but the warmth of the flesh-and-blood hand on her own made her a bit more red in the cheeks.

Why the heck was she getting all flustered? Maybe Ax really just was that cute. It was hard not to ruminate on the possibilities... Sure enough, she thought about it. Shotgunning Ax would be... Kind of hot. So Fu's face adopted a kind of lopsided, dumb grin and she moved her hands to follow Ax's instructions, leaning forward and making a tube where she could press her face. Kind of a weird way to do this, definitely not what she'd been expecting, but still interesting.

"So I just... Breathe?" she wondered out loud, and pushed her face against her hands, soon feeling Ax pressing against her on the other end. Sure enough, smoke filled between her hands, and Ax's grip moved from her wrists to the back of her neck, pulling her in slightly, making sure they had a tight seal between them. Then, she inhaled deeply, and felt the burn of the smoke in her lungs, the curious, tingling spike along her spine of the drug lacing into her body. This stuff always had a pretty quick onset... Perks of inhaling things. She made sure to fill her lungs, then turned her head away and breathed out slowly, coils of smoke rolling out of her nose and her lips, before she blew the rest of it out and her throat went dry. She coughed a couple of times, but then immediately went for another, breathing in deep.

Then, she grinned into her hands. Her golden eyes were locked on Ax's, staring over the top of her hands while she sucked in a good deal of smoke from the end of the joint. The predatory look she gave while she schemed was bound to stir up some sort of feeling, it was a look that pierced and one that gave off hunger. When she'd filled her lungs again, she removed her hands, plucked the joint from Ax's lips, leaned forward, pressed their lips together again, and blew it out, straight in to Ax's mouth.

This was a shotgun, she thought, wondering if Ax had actually known what she'd been thinking about. But even after she'd finished her little display of sharing, she still held their lips together a moment longer. At this point, she wasn't shotgunning the bird... She was kissing her. Fu leaned forward a little more, enough that her rump rose from the bench and her tail moved side to side, brushing along the backs of Ax's knuckles where the were resting on her neck. Then she stopped. Breaking away from Ax's face, she fell backward, slipping out of Ax's arms and breathing a little quicker now due to the lack of oxygen she'd created for herself, she laid down on the bench with her legs still bunched up in front of Ax's, but she stretched her arms over her head and moaned a gentle sound of relief while she let her muscles lose some of their tenseness. When she finished, she sighed softly, then lifted her head up to grin back at Ax. By now, her eyes were getting a bit red to match her darkened cheeks.

"They didn't teach you how to shotgun in Atlas?" she quipped jokingly, bringing one arm behind her head and propping herself up a little. The other hand rose up in front of her, two fingers pinching the joint still, handing it back to Ax.

"Such a shame, all that government funding on education, wasted..." Her voice was a purr, now, and she spoke a bit slower, letting the high wash over her. Man, it felt good to loosen up...

[Ax L Rose]

Ax felt a familiar little flutter in her chest like butterflies as she reached out and took Fuchsia's wrists, but she was ready for it this time. She knew what she was doing, how this would look, how this could end up feeling... but at the end of the day, this was just blowbacks. Even if that dopey smile on Fuchsia's face made it tempting to kiss her right back for earlier...

Ax's lungs expanded with smoke, but it had been a surprisingly good hit - much better than her last time doing blowbacks with someone, which Ax realized had been a while ago. A little wisp of smoke escaped her hands as Fuchsia exhaled and went in for the rest. She grinned, taking this as a sign that this was a surprisingly successful experiment. Ax felt like the ice was really breaking down fast between them, and she felt like she had a better idea of what Fuchsia was comfortable with. Then Fuchsia caught her gaze over her hand, and Ax realized that she had miscalculated. She knew that look. She knew that feeling. She recognized intent, but she didn't know exactly what was going to happen. When Fu's hands lowered and she started to lean in, Ax didn't think. She just went with her gut. Her eyes flicked from Fuchsia's eyes down to her lips, before falling shut just as their lips met once again and the tip of Fu's tail brushed against her fingers.

Ax didn't seem particularly interested in making a proper seal with her lips, instead simply giving Fuchsia a smoldering kiss that the cat seemed all too eager to match with intensity of her own. Ax was pretty obviously not interested in getting a hit from this - Fu's smoke was exhaled generally toward Ax's mouth, but she didn't get much and clearly didn't care or notice. One kiss chained into a few more, and a voice in the back of Ax's mind began to urgently remind her that playing with hearts was dangerous.

As Fu pulled back, Ax was still visibly leaning a little forward as if wanting to push it a little further, though she at least seemed to have the presence of mind necessary to withdraw her hands and rest them in her lap. Her eyes slowly fluttered back open before she pressed her lips firmly together, doing her best not to seem too pleased with herself. She definitely had a better read on Fuchsia now. Was one kiss ever really enough? They clearly must've had something in common. Ax raised a hand and pressed her metal fingertip to her lip absentmindedly as Fu stretched out over her half of the bench and was silent for a moment, letting out a little sigh as if she'd just received a massage.

Ah, Fuchsia was a lightweight. It didn't take much to get her high. Maybe that was a good thing. She'd probably have to offer her some eye drops. She blinked slowly at Fuchsia when she spoke, needing an extra second to actually process what she said apparently before a slow smile spread over her lips.

"C'mon," Ax let out an amused breath at Fu's playful little jab. "The way I do it actually works. Mouth-to-mouth blowbacks - shotguns or whatever - don't hit for shit. Waste of weed," Ax rolled her eyes before realizing (rather belatedly) that Fuchsia now had their blunt. Tricky kitty, using Ax's distractedness against her! She raised a hand and took back the joint with a little shrug.

"Fun though," Ax's cool baby blues lingered on Fuchsia's lips.

"You're pretty gutsy, kit-cat. I like that," Ax noted, seemingly impressed.

[Fuchsia Iris Ükhel]

It was certainly Fuchsia's turn to look smug and full of herself. Her grin had extended ear to ear in true Cheshire fashion, giving the small ring piercing in her lip a reason to divide her face symmetrically. She watched Ax's response to her little display of affection, and it made her pride swell big enough to down any nearby passing airships, should they collide with it. Now this was a feeling she hadn't felt in years. But, still, there was a hint of something there, caution perhaps? It made her brain remind her that diving in to the nearest pool of ego-boosting hot girls was not the way to a happy life. But, she was done being shallow. She made a mental note to give Ax some credit. This girl wasn't just some random chick at a party, they were both warriors and students and she had to respect this fact. If anything, it made Ax more appealing to her.

That, and the way she touched her lip and acted like she'd received a gift worthy of her stature.

She continued lounging back on the bench, her arm dangling over the side once Ax had taken her rollie back. Her knuckled brushed the ground, idly swinging back and forth a few times while she simply lay there, looking up at the bird. Damn, she was pretty. It was easy to get lost in those electric eyes. Either that, or she really was a lightweight.

"Well," she said in response, and perhaps a spontaneous show of wit, "There's always more smoke. Moments, though, those are the real rarities." Once she'd said this, she paused, and looked confused, as if she wasn't really sure where that had come from.

"Wuh... Strong stuff, I guess," she said with a light chuckle, which wiggled her ears, it looked a bit goofy with that ridiculous smile on her face. Her thoughts filled with that logic, though, momentarily, and she realized that even though they'd just met a few days ago, they'd already managed to have three moments back to back. That was kind of cool. The bad and the good, like the full spread of life's offerings. Her lips were tingling. Ax was a good kisser. Maybe there'd be time to make out in the future? She wondered how Ax felt about tongue, that was always more fun.

"Besides that... If you wanna talk about guts, you don't even know the half of it. You don't survive in Mantle off brains alone. I could tell you some stories, that's for sure, but right now, I think I'd rather just look at you," she said, and so she did exactly that, twisting a little bit sideways to prop her head up on one of her hands, giving Ax a nice, long once-over. Her brain buzzed and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end... The high was coming on.

"It's been years since I smoked. I forgot about cottonmouth. You got any water or somethin'?" she questioned, and smacked her lips a couple times, then turned her head slightly so she could look back out over the cliffside.

"Mmm... Two pretty views," she mumbled to herself, her dangling arm tick-tocking back and forth rhythmically.

[Ax L Rose]

Could Ax blame this little kitten for her obvious satisfaction? Naaah... she earned a little room for pride. Ax was accustomed to having to always make the first move on pretty much any girl, so it was a little refreshing to be the one getting kissed for a change, even if it did fill Ax with a surge of energy that she didn't really know what to do with yet. Still, Fuchsia's clear interest so far was good to know about.

Ax's body shook with a laugh and she waved her hand dismissively at Fu's sage wisdom. Yeah, Ax had a pretty good supplier. There were a lot of perks to being friends with this particular pretty bird, so it seemed. Despite Ax's cheer, however, her smile shrank a bit as soon as the subject shifted to Mantle. Terrific! Her favorite subject!

Ah... Mantle. Ax knew a thing or two about the place. She'd have probably instantly been put in a bad mood by how Fuchsia talked about it if she'd brought this up this way a year or so ago. Ax liked to think she knew more than just the half of it. Mantle had been her life for a while, and some of the damage was probably permanent. Ax chose to simply let it rest as soon as Fuchsia gave her the option, focusing on the last bit of what Fu had to say instead of commenting on the prelude to Fuchsia's Gritty Tales of Mantle.

"And here I was thinking maybe you'd keep kissing me," Ax gave the cat a coy little smile as she took in a few puffs of cherry-flavored smoke. She then leisurely reached up to offer the blunt back to Fuchsia.

"Water fountain over by the building near where we came in, if you don't wanna wait 'til we hit town."